My inspiration comes from a lifetime of observation of the gracious ease with which both my mother and my second mom (I abhor the word “stepmother”) served as hostess to countless cocktail and dinner parties.
One of my most cherished possessions is the cookbook compiled by the Welcome Wagon Newcomers Club of my hometown, published in 1970. Local socialites – mostly “Mrs. Dr. so-and-so” or Mrs. <insert husband name here> – contributed the recipes and published, sold, and gifted the cookbook. A significant number of those recipes were submitted by my Mom, and I’ve made quite a few of them over the years, for dinner parties, large parties, for potlucks, and to give as gifts.
When I decide to try a new recipe, very often I’ll research several versions online or in my various cookbooks, and I will create a hybrid version based on instinct. However, I’m not one to simply peruse the pantry and whip up something spontaneously, I definitely need a recipe or at the very least some fairly clear guidance.
That being said, my cooking mantra (and also an inside joke between me and my sister-in-law) is: Oh, it’s so easy!
And if I get in a jam, help is but a phonecall away.
Yummmm. Now I’m hungry.